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After months of speculation and consternation, Keegan Bradley revealed his six captain’s picks for the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup on Wednesday, a list that did not include his own name.
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When the Americans face off against their European rivals at Bethpage Black next month, Bradley, 39, will serve solely as captain, deciding against becoming the first American to take on the role of playing captain since Arnold Palmer served the dual role in 1963.
In the end, Bradley selected Justin Thomas, Collin Morikawa, Ben Griffin, Cameron Young, Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns to round out his 12-player roster, leaving himself the off man out.
Since Bradley won the Travelers Championship in June, there’s been ample discussion as to whether the two-time Ryder Cup participant gives the Americans the best chance of winning back the Cup that they lost in Rome in 2023 by being on the roster, or whether playing would be too much of a distraction to his duties as captain. The debate weighed on Bradley, who over the weekend at the Tour Championship described the decision as the “biggest decision of my life.”
“I’m having a very hard time separating right now my captaincy and my play,” Bradley said last week at East Lake Golf Club. “For the past month it’s been like this, but this week I’m trying so hard. But that’s all I’m thinking about. Thinking about pairings, certain things I want to say to the guys during the week. It’s just difficult.”
Making its difficult was the number of viable contenders for the final spots. Thomas, Morikawa and Cantlay were all Ryder Cup veterans who seem like solid choices for three of the six picks. Griffin and Young both had PGA Tour wins this summer, while Burns had Ryder Cup experience and is the top-ranked putter on the PGA Tour in 2025. In the end, Bradley decided the best way to help the team would be to concentrate giving the 12-man roster the best chance to win back the Cup.
Already on the team through automatic qualifying are Scottie Scheffler, J.J. Spaun, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Harris English and Bryson DeChambeau.
As for the European team, six players earned spots last week through automatic qualifying: Rory McIlroy, Robert MacIntyre, Tommy Fleetwood, Justin Rose, Rasmus Hojgaard and Tyrrell Hatton.
Luke Donald will make his six captain’s picks on Sept. 1.
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